Why I Like Physics

mephysics

30 Dec 2013

Here are a few reasons why physics is a subject that interests me:
<ul>
<li>Physics can give meaning and insight to the world around us.</li>
<li>Physics requires understanding first principles and reasoning up from there.</li>
<li>Nature can be deeply un-intuitive. That means that its neither intuitive nor counter-intuitive – it defies any intuition. For example, two particals separated by space can be entangled such that a state-change of one particle can cause a seemingly non-local state-change of the other particle.</li>
<li>Nature can be non-deterministic, probabilistic and subjective. For example, light exhibits wave-particle duality in that it exists simultaneously as a superposition of both a wave and a particle. However, any measurement results in observing one or the other of these properties, but never both.</li>
<li>Nature has a built in veil of uncertainity. For example, the uncertainty principle states that there is a fundamental limit to the precision with which certain pairs of physical properties of a particle can be known simultaneously.</li>
<li>The concrete world of physics can connect to the abstract world of mathematics and philosophy in suprising ways. Specifically, discoveries in experimental physics sometimes advance our understanding of abstract mathematatics. As an example, quantum energy levels seem to be related to the Reimann Zeta Function.</li>
<li>Solving a really difficult problem is a rewarding challenge. It is enormously satisfying when moments of insight are achieved.</li>
</ul>